Wednesday, 27 August 2008

Isaiah 11:1-5 “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” This passage tells us that the coming King will be a human because Isaiah 11:1 describes that “a rod out of the stem of Jesse,” which was the father of David, which of course was human. The coming King will have the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and knowledge. The word counsel here means that only He can guide, teach and encourage us. There was no king that ever existed having such distinctions given in this passage. The coming King will be the righteous King because He will not judge according to the sight of the eyes and the hearing of the ears for He knows everything about the wickedness of the minds and hearts of people. He knows everything in the mind of every man and there is none such ruler in this world but this will be fulfilled in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 11:4 tells us further everything that the King does He will do it righteously. “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” The Lord Jesus Christ will slay the wicked in the Armageddon as mentioned in Revelation 19:15 “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

How can such a person come from David and Jesse? The answer is because He has inherited His human nature from them by the miracle of the Holy Spirit that took place on conception that does not inherit our sinful nature. By the virtue, the fact is that He pre-existed his incarnation with the father for eternity, and He also inherits His divine nature. Thus He is God-man and He is qualified to rule over the world.

The perfect Servant with infinite, divine qualification

Isaiah 40:3-5

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

At the end of verse 9 says, “say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God.” What kind of person he will be when he comes? The answer to this question is found in Isaiah 40:10-11 “Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” The perfect shepherd with infinite, divine qualification will come to this earth. The prophecy in this passage is the absolute truth in which John the Baptist has proclaimed it during his short ministry in this earth namely to prepare the way of the Lord that will come, the Lord Jesus Christ. It was because of the preaching of this truth, John the Baptist was put into a dungeon and finally he was headed. However while he was still in a dungeon, he sent the messengers to the Lord Jesus Christ asking whether Jesus Christ is the One who would come (Luke 7:19-24). The truth was, there was no doubt for the two disciples of John who had seen all the works of the Lord Jesus Christ before their eyes. Even Jesus Christ told them to let John the Baptist know for what they have seen.

Isaiah 42:1-4

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.”

Who is this servant? In the book of Isaiah there are three servants mentioned. First, in Isaiah 44:28; 45:1 we see Cyrus was called the messiah, the anointed of God because God raised Cyrus to deliver Israel from the Babylonian captivity. Cyrus smashed Babylon and helped Israel to rebuild the temple, but Cyrus did not even know the Lord. Second, in Isaiah 44:21; 49:3 another servant of God which was described as mostly did not know the Lord, but sometimes he knew the Lord and occasionally obeyed Him, and that servant is Israel. The Lord in the book of Isaiah was agonising over the reluctant servant Israel. Third, within the chosen nation of Israel there is the perfect servant of the Lord. He is the One who is mentioned in Isaiah 42:1-4. The Lord said, “Behold my servant.” Who is this servant of the Lord? He is the Messiah, the King of kings who will rule over the whole world and He will be the marvellous King in the history of this planet earth. He will be faithful to the Lord forever.

Isaiah 49:1-7

“Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.”

This is another passage that the Lord will fulfil in the Lord Jesus Christ. As we read in the beginning of this passage, it was as if the Lord Jesus Christ who was speaking this passage concerning Himself and what He is going to do in the future. This is the amazing Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament.

Isaiah 50:4-9

“The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.”

This is another passage where we can see Jesus Christ speaking again as in Isaiah 49:1-7. Isaiah 50:4 tells us how the Lord Jesus knew all things when He gave up His independent exercise of attribute of His greatness. Verse 4 says “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.” In other words, Jesus was saying that ‘what He says it is not from Him but His Father. His Father tells me what to say and do. His Father also empowers Him because when He becomes incarnated, He deliberately set aside the independent exercise of attribute of His greatness so that what He did, that was supernaturally by the father enabling and showing Him. Thus the Lord Jesus Christ had done all things perfectly when He came to this earth to do the will of His Father.